Monday, August 24, 2015

Bushed

For the last 23 days in a row, I’ve done a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise everyday. Be it running, swimming or biking I’ve forced myself to get off the couch or out of my chair and do something. I’ve surprised myself. I’ve even lost that five pounds I was trying to lose. Until yesterday, probably the hardest thing I’ve done was go for a morning swim. I’m not a morning person and I would wager that I’m still, physiologically speaking, asleep even two hours after I’m out of bed. I mean, I’m awake, I’m walking around, I’m drinking coffee or eating breakfast, but my brain is stuck in “fugue”, my heart rate and blood pressure are abysmally low, my body temperature is all wrong for a living human and I’m as prone to knocking a cup of coffee over as I am to picking it up. My eyes are open and my mind knows where I am, but my body is still asleep. It’s like the opposite of sleep-walking, more like walk-sleeping. It's not too different from lucid dreaming or a scene in Being John Malkovich. Even when I ride to work I’m sure I’ve dozed off while rolling along. That’s what made those morning swims so tough.

Yet yesterday, I think I over extended myself. I’ve felt a little guilty about not doing enough training rides and I’ve lost some of that desire I used to have to go on longer rides. Who has the time for a three or four hour ride? As I’ve added some bike intervals into my exercise I’ve also started getting out a little earlier on Sunday mornings which allows for longer, more exploratory rides.

That’s what I did on Sunday. A long ride to try and find a bicycle friendly entrance to Bronte Creek Provincial Park. I failed. Here’s the thing – I’ve done longer rides on hotter days but something about Sunday’s 120 km ride to nowhere completely sapped me. It drained my batteries. It sucked the life from me. As soon as I got home, I napped for over an hour. Then I showered and rode to Bay and Bloor to grab a steak & frites and went to a movie. During the previews I nodded off. During the film, which I enjoyed, I almost nodded off. When I got home, I started looking at e-mail, and nodded off. I decided to give in and go to bed. During my pre-sleep “floor routine” (some planks and stretches), I nodded off! I fell asleep at the foot of my bed while getting ready for bed!

Then I slept a thousand sleeps. All day at work I’ve been fighting off sleep. My legs still feel like noodles the next day. Yet I do not want my 23 day streak to end so I will drag myself home and do some kind of “recovery day” exercise. Then, I will most likely nod off.

Update: In fact I went on to run over 5 km, not in great time, but I did it and it hurt like hell. Then I did laundry and got up the following morning for a swim, making it 25 days.